Adhesives for Miniature Kite Making

Sunday, 12 July 2009 11:10 | Written by SusieJo Skinner | | |

Many different adhesives will work for making miniature kite.

The one used most often, which was popularized by Charlie Sotich, is Arleen's Tacky Glue that has been thinned slightly with water. Any basic white glue could be used, Charlie thought Arleen's worked a little better. It is available in most craft stores. Other white glues are available in almost any store -- from grocery stores to corner convenience stores.

Glue Sticks are great for younger kite makers who are making magnum size kites that are all paper. They can be used for palm sized tube kites but in general the glue adds too much weight to palm-sized and small kites. Glue sticks work very well for sticking paper to paper; they do not work well for attaching spars to paper. Glue Sticks are available in just about any store.

Scrapbook adhesives work well for paper to paper bonding. It has an advantage of not being wet so there is no chance of warping the tissue paper from getting to much glue on it. However, as the adhesive is a fixed width, you can end up with left over adhesive exposed which is forever sticky. You may be able to gently rub it off with your thumb. This adhesive is the recommend choose for glueing vellum. Scotch brand makes a 1/4 inch wide version. Don't be tempted to push down too hard and break the dispenser. The narrower Scotch version is available in Craft, Scrapbook and many office supply stores.

For working with films a thinned rubber cement is generally recommend however Charlie also has used Arleen's Tacky glue which was highly thinned.